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FEMA Says Weaknesses Remain
In Its Ability to Respond Quickly

By

Siobhan Gorman

Updated Aug. 29, 2008 12:01 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is rushing to prepare for what may be its first major test since Hurricane Katrina.

Gustav hits Haiti, killing at least two people, but the former hurricane has weakened to a tropical storm. Plus, oil prices rise amid warnings it could gain strength as it threatens regions in the Gulf of Mexico. Video courtesy of Reuters. (Aug. 28)

The agency has changed markedly since then, with new management, beefed-up procedures and a heightened sense of the nation's vulnerability to catastrophic natural disasters. But lawmakers and department investigators are warning that the agency's ability to marshal its forces quickly still is lagging.

"We've all worked very hard over the last two years in planning and training...for the next big hurricane, and (Tropical Storm) Gustav is going to be it," FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson told reporters Thursday.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison were moving to pre-empt problems. After a conference call with federal officials, Mr. Chertoff flew to Louisiana Thursday to meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He planned to traverse the evacuation routes Friday morning before traveling to Mississippi, where he planned to meet with Gov. Haley Barbour.

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"Everything is being done that is possible to prepare," said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, who was credited with resuscitating the government's response to Katrina three years ago. "There's a much tighter-knit leadership team."

Mr. Paulison was managing expectations. "I'm not going to say there's not going to be problems," he said. He said those problems won't resemble the aftermath of Katrina, the U.S.'s most costly natural disaster. At the time, FEMA came under fire for the government's slow and chaotic response.

FEMA has put supplies, including ready-to-eat meals, tarps, blankets and cots, at 11 locations in the region, from Fort Worth, Texas, to Orlando, Fla., according to agency documents. The agency has identified shelters for evacuees, including some in surrounding states. Neither Texas nor Louisiana has requested federal help, Mr. Paulison said.

Lawmakers are concerned that the agency faces operational hurdles that could hamper its response if Gustav batters the Gulf Coast with a force approaching that of Katrina.

A Department of Homeland Security inspector-general report in March assessed nine key areas at FEMA relating to preparedness and found moderate progress in five and very little progress in one: managing resources and training.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who is chairman of the committee that oversees homeland security, credited Mr. Paulison and his staff with turning FEMA around. However, he said in a written statement, "FEMA still has a long way to go...before it will be able to respond quickly and effectively to a real catastrophic disaster."

In a draft of a letter Sen. Lieberman said he planned to send to Mr. Paulison Friday, he said: "FEMA still does not yet have a sufficient surge work force, leaving the nation susceptible to many of the same problems experienced in Hurricane Katrina." The agency lacks funds to further build its response capacity, Sen. Lieberman added in his letter.

Employees in the agency share that concern, said one longtime FEMA staffer. FEMA, for example, has yet to develop all of the "strike teams" Congress required the agency to build in the wake of Katrina.

FEMA's Mr. Johnson said the agency has deployed three such teams to the region but is still short of the 20 teams it needs across the country. He said FEMA still needs to strengthen its cadre of reservists, a top priority for the agency.

When Mr. Paulison took over FEMA from Michael Brown in Katrina's aftermath in 2005, he moved to install experienced professionals to head FEMA's regional offices and to fill other senior posts. Since 2005, FEMA has doubled in size, to 3,400 employees, with reserve forces numbering 8,000 to 10,000, said Mr. Paulison, a former Miami fire chief.

"It sent a message to our employees that we're serious; we're not just bringing in political hacks," he said. Mr. Brown, who was widely blamed for the poor handling of Katrina, had no prior experience in emergency management.

Mr. Paulison also zeroed in on logistics. He hired a top official from the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency to head logistics planning, and recruited an executive from United Parcel Service Inc. FEMA has drawn up agreements with 130 federal agencies for assistance under different contingences.

Mr. Paulison received a hands-on look at the Gustav preparations Thursday at a long-planned New Orleans recovery tour. He said he had considered canceling the trip but decided the visit would give him "an opportunity to grill" local officials on Gustav planning.